


when the witnesses are gone

by sarahcakes613



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: M/M, Relationship Reveal, Scents & Smells
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23833123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahcakes613/pseuds/sarahcakes613
Summary: Sonny smells different, and Amanda's determined to figure out why.Or, how Barisi winds up disclosing.
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 144
Collections: The Leonard Cohen Files





	when the witnesses are gone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lady_sb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_sb/gifts).



> This basically only exists because REE mentioned in an Instalive that Kelli Giddish was the only one to notice the cologne he chose for Barba, and some fever-dream combination of new Twitter friends and quarantine has me actually really motivated to write these days.
> 
> Also, brought to you by my internet search history: "what does hermes smell like". (grapefruit and cedar, if you were wondering.)

_Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove/Dance me to the end of love_ \- Dance Me to the End of Love, Leonard Cohen

“Hey, so Barba was able to get us a warrant, but it’s pretty limited in scope, we can only search the car and garage, not the rest of the – whoa, hey Rollins, what the hell?”

Sonny looks down, not sure why he’s suddenly basically got an armful of southern blonde detective, but there she is, head bobbing as she circles him, sniffing his collar.

“You usin’ a new detergent, Carisi?”

She steps back, eyeing his suit critically, as if she might be able to visibly notice the change to his soap.

“Nah, I got the same jumbo bottle I’ve had since the last time I took my ma to Costco a couple months back. Why, what gives?”

He tucks his chin down, trying to sniff his own shirt. If he turns right, there’s just the faintest lingering whiff of citrus from where Rafael had leaned in to press a soft kiss under his ear before shooing him out of his office with the requested warrant. It’s barely there though, and not strong enough for anyone else to catch. It’s also on his undershirt, but that’s two layers down and a day old, no way she’s noticing that.

Rollins is still circling him, her lips a frown as she considers.

“You smell different.”

“I _smell_ different? You spend a lotta time smellin’ me, detective?”

She rolls her eyes and reaches up to flick his nose. He pouts, rubbing at it.

“We spend about 10 hours a day either in a car or sitting a foot across from each other and I got a good nose for scent, so yeah, I know what you usually smell like. And whatever this is, it ain’t it.”

“I mean, this is New York City, I musta walked by a dozen food trucks between Hogan and here, maybe something stuck?”

She leans into him again and then shakes her head.

“No, it’s…I think it’s under your shirt. You sure you didn’t change your soap?”

She tugs at his collar, like she’s trying to sniff the hollow of his throat

“Jesus, Rollins, hands off the goods! I didn’t change my soap and you are definitely imagining things.”

Fin walks in as he’s elbowing Amanda away and immediately raises his hands and steps around them to walk to the coffee maker.

“I have no idea what’s going on and unless it’s about a case, let’s keep it that way.”

Sonny straightens his collar, running a hand around the back to make sure his tie hasn’t come untucked, when he feels a hand brushing his.

“Allow me, detective.”

He doesn’t move while Barba smooths his collar down and then comes around to face him. He can’t say what he wants to say, not with Rollins and Fin right there, so he settles for a nod.

“Thanks, counsellor. What brings you by so soon, I forget something?”

Barba reaches into his jacket and pulls out a document identical to the one he’d tossed onto his desk when Rollins had started sniffing him.

“I managed to persuade the judge to reconsider the evidence, she agreed to sign off on more extensive search parameters.”

“Oh, hey, that’s great! Y’hear that, Rollins, we can – Rollins?”

The ADA is standing stock still now, eyes wide and following the detective as she walks slowly around him, her eyes narrowed. She spins to face Carisi and it’s only because he’s got three sisters that the slowly uncurling grin on her face doesn’t completely terrify him.

“Oh my god.”

Sonny chances a glance over to Barba, who still isn’t moving. He looks back at Sonny, and there’s just the slightest twitch in his lips, the barest smirk. Something like relief courses through him, because a smirk means he’s not angry that someone’s figured it out. They both knew someone was bound to, it’s par for the course when you work in a room full of seasoned cops, but they’d both agreed that it was too soon to disclose and this is going to force their hand.

Not that Sonny minds having his hand forced, all that much. They have a good thing going, one that he’d like to keep going for the foreseeable future, longevity which means disclosure was going to be an inevitable necessity anyhow. All that being said, he’s really not sure how Amanda’s worked it out.

“Oh my god,” Amanda repeats. Her eyes are darting back and forth between her partner and the ADA. “That’s what’s different today. _You smell like Barba_.”

There’s a coughing sound behind them as Fin chokes on his coffee.

“Well, he does!” Amanda calls to Fin, before turning back to Sonny. “You do! You smell like that fancy bottle of cologne he keeps in his office.”

“It’s Hermès, and I’ll thank you not to go around smelling things in my office,” Barba comments mildly.

“Well I gotta do something while you two are makin’ googly eyes at each other and talkin’ precedent as foreplay!”

Sonny feels his neck heat up, and he can see the tips of Rafael’s ears turning red.

“Y’know what, maybe we should go serve that warrant now, yeah?” He shoots for casual and misses by a mile, but he’d really like to be talking about literally anything else right now and searching a man’s house for a victim’s jewelry seems as good a distraction as any.

“Yeah, yeah, hang on, I gotta text Nick, he’s gonna be so pissed. He had his money on you guys not getting your act together by at least Halloween.”

“You bet on when we’d _get together_? Wait, _you_ _bet_ on when we’d get together?”

“We weren’t betting for money, it doesn’t count,” She waves Sonny’s concern away. “Now he owes me a steak dinner.”

Barba rolls his eyes as he snaps open his briefcase and pulls out another piece of paper. He hands it to Sonny.

“I haven’t filled in the date or your information, but my signature’s already there. I thought it would be judicious to have on hand, just in case, and it seems I was right.”

Sonny looks down at the disclosure form he’s now holding. He looks back up at Rafael, who’s pointedly not meeting his eyes. He laughs, reaches into his desk, and pulls out an identical document.

“Good to know we’re on the same page, counsellor.”

Rafael’s eyes meet his and his gaze softens.

Fin reaches out for the updated warrant and starts steering Amanda out of the precinct.

“Come on, some of us actually have somethin’ better to do than sit around watching people be lovey-dovey.”

She lets herself be guided, but turns to wink at Sonny on her way out, tapping her nose.

He turns to Barba to try and explain how they got here.

“I’m sorry, I grabbed the wrong undershirt from the floor when I was getting dressed this morning. I’m guessin’ that’s what she was smelling on me.”

Rafael blinks at him.

“You’ve been wearing my undershirt from yesterday all day today?”

Sonny blushes again, scratching at his chin.

“Yeah, I honestly didn’t really notice til halfway through the morning and – mmph!”

He doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before the other man is kissing him, one hand gripping his neck and the other curled around his waist.

Rafael only breaks the kiss briefly to pant directly into his ear.

“Do you have any idea how hot that is, _cariño_? Thinking about you wearing my shirt? Smelling like me all day?”

He pulls Sonny back into another kiss, deepening it with a slick slide of tongue.

“Uh, guys? Something I should know about?”

Every one of Sonny’s instincts tells him to stop, to turn and face his boss, but Rafael isn’t letting go, so he fumbles for the dual disclosure forms and shoves them at her without breaking the kiss. She takes them from his hand. There’s a pause as she looks them over, the separately filled out halves, and then she steps back.

“Right, well. Carry on, then.”

They do, and Sonny privately vows to grab the wrong clothing more often. If this is the response an undershirt gets, he shivers to wonder how Rafael will respond if Sonny shows up in court wearing one of his ties.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me about REE's inability to use technology! I'm on Twitter or Tumblr, same username across the board.


End file.
